


Criminals, Tornados and Love

by inkfiction



Category: Fringe (TV)
Genre: Archiving previous works, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22958680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkfiction/pseuds/inkfiction
Summary: “Well, isn’t that the ultimate pinnacle of love?” said Olivia. “To destroy one’s self for one’s love?”The one in which they discuss a Neko Case song while trying to solve a case and arguing over everything and nothing. Just your average day at work.
Relationships: Olivia Dunham/Alternate Olivia Dunham
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Criminals, Tornados and Love

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Mar 2, 2012. Minor edits.
> 
> This is an O2 story, just a fun little piece with bantering and all. For the record, this is set in an AU where the Bridge is permanently functional and the two universes are getting along famously and the Olivias cross over on a regular basis to help and partner each other in cases where each of them have different informers. This one is set in Blue!Verse. And Olivia is, apparently, fond of Neko Case. The song they are talking about is ‘This Tornado Loves You’ by Neko Case and if you haven’t listened to it already, you should promptly check it out. It’s a beautiful song! And necessary in order to understand this fic. If you can’t listen to it, at least read the lyrics before reading this just so you understand what they are talking about. I thought this fic might be a little pedantic but I adore the song, and the Os, so I decided to put it up anyway. Oh, and it is based on an actual conversation I had with my friend Beanz.

They were in a deserted alley near Chinatown looking for a suspect whose address had been provided by a mole. Olivia stood outside, trying to figure out where to go next. Liv was inside the car alternating between radio stations.

“Would you stop fiddling with the radio for a moment?” Olivia snapped at her.

“What else is there to do?” her Alternate said in a bored voice. “I told you this was a dud. My informer told me it was–”

“You could at least recon!”

“My informer said–”

“I  _ know _ what your informer said! Jeez. Why don’t you come out here and do your  _ ‘I told you so’ _ dance?”

Liv chuckled. “Why don’t  _ you _ come back into the car and I’ll do my  _ ‘I told you so’ _ dance while you drive us away from here?”

But going back in would mean accepting that she was wrong so Olivia stayed outside, pretending to look again in the malodorous trash cans. “There must be  _ something _ …”

“You realize this could be a trap?”

“Oh, don’t be absurd. There’s no one here.”

“For your mole.”

“Oh my God!”

“Exactly.”

Olivia whipped out her phone and dialed Joshua’s number. She breathed a sigh of relief when he picked up.

“Joshua! Get out of there!  _ Now!” _

“Oh, believe me,” came his panting voice. “I’m doing just that.”

“They’re there already?”

“No, but they’re coming. I’m going to the safe house.”

“Good. Good, I’ll see you there.”

She ended the call and got into the car. She waited a moment before starting the car.

“Well, get it over with,” she told Liv.

“Oh, I will. But let’s get out of here first, okay?”

Olivia reversed to get out of the alley and began the long drive home. Liv began to hum. It sounded suspiciously like  _ ‘I told you so’ _ . After ten minutes of it Olivia had had enough.

“All right. You made your point. Stop it, now.”

“What, I can’t hum now?”

“I know what you’re humming.”

“What am I humming?”

“You – I don’t know!”

“But you just said–”

“Jesus – why don’t you tinker with the radio some more?”

Liv guffawed and turned on the radio. It was one of her favorite pastimes.

“Don’t you make me listen to metal this time!” Olivia warned her.

“Come on! It wasn’t that bad.”

“It gave me a headache!”

“Oh, fine,” Liv made a face. “I won’t let anything happen to that precious head of yours.” She settled on a station where a catchy song was playing. “This seems nice,” she said, head already bobbing to the beat.

“It’s Neko Case,” Olivia told her, making a turn.

“What’s that? Like Japanese or something?”

“No, she’s an American singer.”

“Oh. What kind of a name is  _ Neko _ – hold on, did she just say ‘ _ souls dangling _ –”

“– _ inside-out from their mouths’. _ Yup,” Olivia nodded. “This is a song about a tornado. Which is in love with someone.”

“Okay, wait a minute. A tornado … as in a natural phenomenon or a man?”

“Well, the natural phenomenon, of course.”

“Oh, come off it. You’re kidding, right? It’s one of those parallel universe jokes you’re trying to pull on me?”

Olivia gave her a look.

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“Well, heaven forbid you ever look like that!” Liv rolled her eyes. “But – how can a natural phenomenon be in love with a sentient being?”

“You are in the Fringe division. You should know anything is possible.”

“But surely this is meant to be a metaphor for the singer…”

“Actually, no. She insists that it is meant to be a literal tornado, not a metaphor–”

Liv looked skeptical. “Well, what it sounds like is that a man–”

“Why does it always have to be a man?” said Olivia, making a sharp turn and keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

“Really?” Liv looked at her for a moment before carrying on. “Okay. A  _ lover _ who is running away from a destructive relationship. From a crazy, obsessed wo– uh, lover.”

“Why is it so hard to take it literally?”

“Because,” said Liv, gesturing outwards with her hands. “It’s ridiculous! A funnel of wind searching for the love of its life, wreaking havoc in a – what was it? Sixty-five miles? In a sixty-five mile radius–”

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous.”

“Seriously? Olivia Dunham, FBI Agent, thinks this isn’t ridiculous?”

“I think it is sad,” said Olivia, her voice soft, almost wistful. “And beautiful,” 

“It’s absurd! And anyway, why would anyone come out of a shelter to meet a tornado? It will only destroy them!”

“Well, isn’t that the ultimate pinnacle of love?” said Olivia. “To destroy one’s self for one’s love?”

Liv looked at her like she was mad.

“I mean, really,” Olivia went on. “How many love stories do you know of where at least one of the lovers hasn’t destroyed themselves just for the sake of love? Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Tristan and–”

“But love isn’t supposed to destroy!” Liv cut her sentence. “What kind of love is it that would destroy the lover and the beloved?”

“It’s a paradox, isn’t it? Tragic, destructive love is immortalized. Everyone knows the story of Paris and his love for Helen which led to the destruction of Troy and himself, but no one tells the story of Helen and Menelaus living together happily ever after.”

“Well, then, it’s not love, it’s more of a hunt.”

“A tragically sad and empty love–”

“–a hunt–”

“You cannot deny the power of obsessive love.”

“No kidding,” said Liv. “If it is powerful enough to destroy the beloved, no wonder she never comes out – in the end she’s safe and warm in her bed.”

“And the tornado’s left alone and confused, crying out that it loves her, and what will make her believe that it does. All the destruction it wreaks is never enough to fill the void inside which yearns for love–”

“So you’re on the tornado’s side?”

“No,” said Olivia. “I’m just trying to make you understand how it feels.”

“It’s a tornado, Olivia. It doesn’t  _ feel.” _

“If it did. Imagine,” Olivia let out a sigh, risking taking her hands off the steering wheel and gesturing with them to emphasize her point. “Imagine that you are so mighty, so powerful that you can destroy whatever you want. Towering buildings, entire towns. And you fall in love with this puny, little human being, this tiny thing. So fragile, so breakable. And in order to gain her attention, you wreak even more destruction. You tell her that all she has to do to stop it is to come out to tell you to stop. You try to lure her out. But no matter what you do – she’s somewhere inside, safe and warm, while you rage on outside in the cold, destroying her escape routes, destroying yourself as you spend your energies doing that. Loving her so much that you wear yourself out. Because that’s the only way you know of showing your love. In the end all you are is confused and hurt, unable to figure out why your love is being rejected, you’re humiliated, crying that you miss her, that you love her, that you don’t know what will it take to make her believe that you do because you’ve done all in your not-so-humble power and she still doesn’t return your love, doesn’t realize – try and feel all that!”

“Whoa. No thanks.”

Olivia chuckled, shaking her head, and there was silence in the car.

“You know what your problem is?” Liv said after some time.

“Oh, what now?”

“You think too much – I mean it’s just a  _ song _ , you know.”

Olivia shrugged. “Just wanted to make you think from the other person’s point of view.”

“Yeah. Not so good for survival, heh.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So – what about pizza? I’m starving.”

“God, you eat like a rhino!”

“Rhinos are herbivores!”

“A horse.”

“They are–”

“Okay! What do you want me to say? Mountain lion?”

_ “Rawr!” _

Olivia shook her head again and turned the car towards their favorite pizza place. She parked and turned off the ignition, and was about to open the door to get out when Liv grabbed her hand. Olivia looked at her questioningly.

Liv smiled. “Just so you know,” she said and then cupped Olivia’s face and planted a very soft kiss on her lips. “I would always come out if you called.”

Olivia’s face broke out into a smile. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again. She was still smiling widely when she kissed Liv back and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Let’s get that pizza to go and head home.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel a little mortified at such a fluffy ending but it’s the Os, you guise! They kiss and get pizza and nothing hurts! So, what do you guys think? Have an opinion regarding the story? Do you agree with Liv or with Olivia?


End file.
